When California voters approved the construction of a high-speed rail line from Los Angeles to San Francisco, the project was expected to cost around $33 billion and be completed in 2020.

But in 2022, only 22 miles of the 400-mile route was ready for track, and the High-Speed Rail Authority estimated that the cost had more than tripled to $105 billion.

And this week, the California Legislative Analyst’s Office projected there are even bigger financial hurdles ahead.

What You Need To Know

  • California's High-Speed Rail project is under scrutiny by the Trump administration, including a compliance review that has frozen $4 billion in federal funding for the project that had been promised by the Biden administration

  • On Wednesday, the California Legislative Analyst's Office told lawmakers in Sacramento that the project is facing a $7 billion funding gap that will need to be addressed by next summer

  • Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., has asked FBI Director Kash Patel to investigate the project to ensure no federal dollars have been misused

  • The project, which was originally expected to cost $33 billion and be completed in 2020, has now tripled in cost, with a 2022 assessment estimating costs of at least $105 billion

“There’s a $7 billion gap between projected funding and costs as they currently stand,” Helen Kerstein told lawmakers Wednesday. “There’s also potential for some inflation and cost increases, particularly with a project like this.”

Kerstein warned that lawmakers would need to make what she called “key decisions” very soon.

“This isn’t like a way out in the future funding gap. This is a pretty immediate funding gap,” she said, adding that the majority of the funding to close that gap would likely be needed by June of 2026.

The state has spent $15 billion so far on the rail line, with the federal government chipping in another $2.7 billion. During President Donald Trump’s first administration, he cancelled nearly $1 billion in further assistance, but the Biden administration restored it, and then committed another $3.3 billion in funds. 

Now that nearly $4 billion in federal support is in jeopardy.

Last month, Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that the project would be placed under compliance review, focused specifically on that $4 billion commitment from the Biden administration. President Trump, calling the project “the worst managed project I think I’ve ever seen.”

Spectrum News reached out to the Department of Transportation for comment on where the review stands and what sort of progress has been made over the last several weeks, but our inquiry went unanswered. 

Shortly after we reached out to his office, Duffy posted a lengthy criticism of the rail project on his official X account, writing “As [President Trump] directed, [the Department of Transportation] will continue to investigate this project to determine how exactly federal dollars have been used and whether federal support should continue.”

Not only is the Department of Transportation investigating the project, but Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., is asking the FBI to also investigate how the funds have been used.  

“There are a lot of questions about how deep the wastefulness and what kind of decisions led to this. And who stood who’s benefited from all of this spending? And so that’s what we’ve asked the FBI director to get into,” said Kiley, who requested the investigation via a letter to Director Kash Patel.

So far, Kiley’s office has not heard back.

In a statement to Spectrum News, a spokesperson for the High-Speed Rail Authority said that as noted in the 2025 Project Update Report, “the Authority is currently engaged in a top-to-bottom review of the project, examining every aspect to identify cost and schedule efficiencies, those findings will be provided to the legislature in a supplemental report this summer. The Authority remains on track to deliver the Merced to Bakersfield segment as currently scheduled.”

That current schedule has the Merced to Bakersfield line slotted for completion between 2030 and 2033, but the spokesperson did not acknowledge the $7 billion gap the California Legislative Analyst’s Office says could impact the project as soon as next year.

The rail authority said it has 171 miles under active construction and design, with 15,000 jobs created — 70% of which they tout — are residents of the Central Valley. But it hasn’t been enough to take the heat off the project. 

The hearing Wednesday comes after Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., advocated for the project to President Trump directly during their lengthy Oval Office meeting last month. Newsom also released an episode of his podcast this week in which he defended the project.

“We did the railhead. We’re starting to lay track. This thing is starting to get very, very real,” said Newsom.

“There’s not a high-speed rail system that doesn’t have some popularity and success, most are wildly popular, it’s an experience no one has had in the United States of America, at least we’re out there daring,” he said.

The podcast did not mention the additional $7 billion funding gap.

In a speech on the House floor Thursday, Kiley slammed the High-Speed Rail Authority for providing an incomplete report to the California legislature.

“The rail authority is entirely reliant on the assumption of federal funding just to get to a point where there’s only a $7 billion budget gap for just the next few months. The fact of the matter is that this project has failed. It is not going to happen,” he said. “There is absolutely no justification for spending another dollar of taxpayer money, especially when our roads continue to crumble and be rated among the worst in the world.”

Kiley has introduced legislation to make the project ineligible for federal funding and said he is calling on Newsom and the California legislature “to do the right thing and bring an end to this failed project, this embarrassing project, once and for all.”